Andy Coulson cleared of perjury as trial collapses

Andy Coulson, 47, had been on trial for two weeks at the high court in Edinburgh, where he denied committing perjury during the 2010 case in Glasgow.

Trial judge Lord Burns upheld a defence motion that Coulson, from Kent – a former director of communications for Prime Minister David Cameron – had no case to answer.

Delivering his ruling, Lord Burns said he had “sustained the arguments in favour of the accused” and told Mr Coulson: “I acquit you of the charge.”

He gave his decision on Monday following two days of legal submissions from Mr Coulson’s defence QC but it could not be reported until today as the crown was given time to decide whether to appeal against the ruling.

News of the World

Andy Coulson was found guilty in June last year of conspiring to intercept voicemails at the News of the World following a trial at the Old Bailey.

During his perjury trial evidence was heard from several former journalists at the paper to build a picture of practices while he was editor – a position he held from January 2003 until his resignation in January 2007.

The prosecution case centred around what they alleged to be lies told by Mr Coulson under oath at Tommy Sheridan’s own perjury trial over four years ago.

Mr Sheridan was jailed for three years in January 2011 after being found guilty of lying about the now-defunct tabloid’s claims that he was an adulterer who attended a swingers’ club.

Prosecutors in the latest trial alleged that Mr Coulson made false claims on 9 and 10 December 2010 after being sworn in as a witness.

However, after the prosecution closed its case last Tuesday, Mr Coulson’s legal team lodged a submission that there was no case to answer and among the arguments said the evidence alleged to be false in this case was not relevant to the charge of perjury in Mr Sheridan’s trial.